JOSH HOMME DISCUSSES FIRING JOEY CASTILLO & NICK OLIVERI

Josh Homme discussed firing former Queens of the Stone Age bandmates Joey Castillo and Nick Oliveri in a new interview with SPIN:

“Queens have moved up on my priorities list. Instead of being my drinking buddy it’s become my war buddy. And the guys in the band are more important to me now, too. When they really wanted to make a record, I said, “Okay, if you want to do this, I’m not in the greatest space. You have to start in the confusion and I don’t know where it’s gonna go and you’re not gonna know either.” But that made us so much tighter. We had to trust each other or we’d pick each other apart. I think that had something to do with why we lost [drummer] Joey [Castillo] and had to let him go [during the …Like Clockwork recording sessions]. He had a hard time navigating that uncertainty. Although it was very amicable, it felt like, ‘Damn, why did that have to happen?’ But it brought the rest of us so close together.”

“Nick and I had troubles that were not musical. He sings on the new album. But back then, in 2004 or whenever, I felt like instead of being understood for making a tough decision about someone who was out of control, people were like, ‘Fuck Josh Homme, he just wants to sing more.’ What? You gotta be nuts. I wanted to sing more? After Deaf, the band started to become more about personalities than the music and that didn’t feel right. Quite honestly, people in the music world had already made their mind up about me by the time [2005’s] Lullabies to Paralyze came out. We divided everybody in our world and I was like, ‘Oh, shit.’ But now I realize that all that external stuff is useless. I’m interested in the long arc of a lifetime of music, in a lifetime of being honest.”

Share this:

Bio: Brett hosted the BWR podcast from 2004 to 2009, and then opened GrungeReport.net in May 2009. The site changed its name to AlternativeNation.net in June 2013. Brett also owns Concertfy.com. Reach out to Brett at; brett (at) alternativenation.net

Wish he would have been more specific about Joey. I still don’t think Josh explained it. Vague & ambiguous!

jon ian

And it’s a shame about Joey because him leaving was a huge loss. He was one of the best drummers out there. I think we all know why he fired Nick.

Gabriel Romero

I totally agree, best drummer so far that hes had

Ash

Are you kidding me? Castillo one of the best out there? He replaced him on the album with Dave Grohl. Castillo couldn’t carry Grohl’s drumsticks.

Kirill

Josh tell me why 2X2=4? Well the answer cant be really obtained by mathematical means because if I want to do this Im not in the outer space, more to say people already know what the answer is and made up their mind. Truly amazing fact that Im interested in the long arc of math questions to be honest…” <– Josh what are you smoking nowadays, I cant really comprehend your answers or you dont really understand what ppl ask you?

whisky

Sounds like Josh was high for this one! Haha…

Rod

Whatever reason he dumped Joey it was certainly for the better. Both Grohl and the new guy are far more skilled at their instrument and know how to stay in the pocket.

Gabriel Romero

Idk ahout that

Btw, do you know who came up with the drum parts for None Knows? Was it dave or joey?

GloofiE

I’m pretty sure it was Grohl, since Castillo got hired after “Songs for the Deaf” was released.

http://nemsworld.com Christine

Funny I loaded the CD player in the car with 6 Queens discs and I had to remove E.Vulg. because it didn’t seem to play fluidly with Deaf and with Like Clockwork. Weird.

rob

i think he means that because of the uncertainties he was going through and the fact that he didn’t have a clear direction for the recording process it frustrated joey and infighting began.

SumaCum2MeLawd

Air that dirty laundry, boys

Benji

Losing joey is a great shame, he is a beast of a drummer, look up “A Song for the Deaf BDO 03″ if there are any doubters. Never know what to expect from a new Queens record, which is good!

ArthurBarthur

Dave Grohl played drum on songs for the deaf, yo!

jake

After listening to “Like Clockwork” countless times it’s pretty obvious why Joey had to go/left. The songs required some creativity, and finesse. Something Joey kind of lacked in my opinion. Jon Theodore is by far the musical drummer QOTSA have ever had(sorry Dave). He is well versed in bashing, and musicality. A true modern day Bonzo.

cltaylor

I was just watching some live Eagles of Death Metal shows I pulled down off the web. Joey is so awesome. If you E V E R get the chance to see Eagles of Death Metal live, do it. So So SO fun!!! I’ve been listening to nothing but QotSA catalog since March 2014 I can’t seem to bring myself to listen to anything else.